Haifan Baha’is lied about the late Ayatollah Montazeri’s 2008 fatwa

Extracted from : http://montazerifatwabahai.blogspot.com/2010/02/bahais-lied-about-late-ayatollah.html

In mid-2008 the world press was abuzz with a media campaign initiated by the Haifan Baha’is claiming that then dissident (and now deceased) Grand Ayatollah Hossein-‘Ali Montazeri had issued a fatwa (legal jurisprudential ruling) arguing for full recognition, and tangentially full citizenship rights, to be granted the Haifan Baha’i creed under the Islamic Republic of Iran. On the basis of the Baha’i campaign, the following text was offered by the world media as proof of the claim:

The ruling and subsequent statements about it all came from Montazeri’s website, here. The initial claim by the world press as prompted by the Haifan Baha’is was that Montazeri had argued for a full official recognition of Baha’ism in Iran, and not simply rights of citizenship to be respected irrespective of creed. On closer examination it appears that the initial unqualified ruling and explanation offered by the Baha’i media to the world press was not exactly what Montazeri had actually ruled or stated. Here I offer the full text of Montazeri’s statement in the original (which can be found on the same page of the website linked above) together with an English translation. To wit,

Translation

In His Name, the Most High!

With salutations and blessings. The opinion of this person (nazar-i-een jenab) regarding the misled cult of Bahaism (firqe-ye zale-ye baha’iye) is the same opinion as the one held during the years before the Revolution, and so has not changed. However [the case of] those who in most cases are not followers of any of the religions sent by heaven (adyan-i-asimani) [i.e. Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam] are referable to the ruling wisdom of the illustrious verse, “Allah forbideth thee from dealing unkindly and unjustly with those who do not fight against thee in the faith nor are ones driving thee out of thy homes, for Allah loveth those who are just” (Qur’an. 60:8); as well as per the letter of the Commander of the Faithful [‘Ali] to Malik Ashtar, “You must kindle in thy heart kindness, compassion and love for thy subjects. Do not behave towards them as if you are a voracious and ravenous beast and as if your success lies in devouring them… they are brothers to you, and those who have a religion [other than yours], they are human beings like you (The Peak of Eloquence/Nahju’l-Balagha, Letter 53). [As such] their human rights should be respected. [Now] citizenship rights are also in one particular respect universal and its limits should [therefore] be specified in that respect on the basis of the customary [‘or’ canon] law (‘urfi) and the Constitution [of the Islamic Republic] by the [will of the] majority of the people. However if certain persons are [determined in] pursuing [the path of] enmity against the people of the nation and are abetting foreign enemies, and if their association [with these foreign enemies] be established for the court(s) pursuant to the laws of the nation, they should be punished according to the law(s). Their citizenship [rights] (shahrvandi-i-anan) does not impede [or ‘obstruct’] the body of the law [to act] (mani’ az ajza’-i-qanun nemishavad]. [Yet] it is also necessary that precautions be taken (lazim ast morraqibat shavad) so that the youth of the nation (javanan-i-keshvar) do not become embroiled in their evil propaganda (tablighat-i-su’-i-anan); and if such dealings and association with them will only give cause to their [cultivation and] strength (mu’amileh va mu’asherat mujib-i-taghviyat-i-anan shavad), it is essential to disassociate from [‘or’ shun] them
(lazim ast az an ijtinab gardad).

Posted by Wahid Azal

The ‘Unique’ feature of Baha’i Architecture

The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in the Australian city of Sydney. It was conceived and largely built by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, finally opening in 1973 after a long gestation starting with his competition-winning design in 1957. Utzon received the Pritzker Prize, architecture’s highest honour, in 2003.

The Pritzker Prize citation stated:
“There is no doubt that the Sydney Opera House is his masterpiece. It is one of the great iconic buildings of the 20th century, an image of great beauty that has become known throughout the world – a symbol for not only a city, but a whole country and continent.”

The design of Lotus Temple is copied from the design of Opera House, Sydney.

More can be found here :
http://totallylookslike.icanhascheezburger.com/2009/10/22/lotus-temple-totally-looks-like-sydney-opera-house/

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Email from an ex-student of New Era School, Panchgani(INDIA)

Extracted from : http://panchgani-bahais.blogspot.com

Proselytizing Baha’i faith in schools in unethical and immoral manner.

Bahai Internet Agency Monitoring use of the social networking site Facebook

In February, 2008, Matthew Weinberg, Program Director for the Baha’i Internet Agency, released the following email letter on behalf of the Haifan Baha’i administration (see Baha’i Faith). The letter refers to the activities of the “Covenant-breaker Martin Lavallee”, a member of the schismatic Orthodox Baha’is and warns members of the Haifan Baha’i community against possible ‘exposure’ to this individual arising from contact on the social networking site, Facebook. “Covenant breaking” is a term employed by the Haifan Baha’is to refer to groups and individuals who challenge “the authority of the center of the Baha’i Faith“, which in this context refers to the authority of the Universal House of Justice, and is considered “the most serious spiritual offence that a Bahá’í can commit. It’s called Covenant-Breaking and is considered to be a spiritual disease and is punished by expulsion from the community.”^[9]

“28 February 2008

To All National Spiritual Assemblies

Dear Bahá’í Friends,

We have been requested by the World Centre to alert you to the current activities of the Covenant-breaker Martin Lavallee on Facebook.com. This individual administers the “Orthodox Bahá’is” page on Facebook and also has a personal page on the site. There have been recent instances where Bahá’í youth with accounts on Facebook have unwittingly accepted invitations from Lavallee to be a “friend” or to become “members” of the Covenant-breaker page. Further, as a consequence of the Facebook networking scheme, if an individual accepts a direct invitation from Lavallee or any other member of his group, the “Friends” list (with e-mail addresses) of that individual becomes exposed. In this way, those with insincere intentions have the potential to directly contact an increasing number of Bahá’is, interactions that could pose a threat to the spiritual well-being of youth and other believers who are not deepened in the Covenant.

Each National Assembly will need to determine the necessity and most appropriate manner of discreetly informing believers of this situation in consultation and with the assistance of the Counsellors. In doing so it will of course be important to avoid creating undue anxiety or curiosity about the nature of Covenant-breaker material on the Internet..

It is our intention to provide more general guidance in the near future about how online social networks can be constructively and safely used by Bahá’ís.

With loving greetings,

Matt Weinberg Program Director Bahá’í Internet Agency

cc: Members of the Continental Boards of Counsellors”^[1]

1. http://www.truebahai.com/2008/03/bahai-internet.html

Lessons for Christians in the history of the Bahai faith

By Adrian Worsfold

When I was confirmed into the Church of England in 1984 I asked some Baha’is I met at their firesides to come along. None did. In the end I fell out with the Baha’is as I discovered academic material that presented their history differently from their own. They are very committed to the preservation of their history as monitored by the Universal House of Justice, the nine seater male-only assembly meant to be a combined secular and religious decision making body for the world, elected without campaigns by the National Spiritual Assemblies below them, these elected by delegates from the Local Spiritual Assemblies below them. It is a very conserving system, a sort of democratic centralism: what the top level says goes.

Very quickly summarising: the origins of the Baha’i Faith are in the Babi faith that developed out of Shia Islam in Iran and Iraq. They were waiting for the return of the Hidden Twelfth Imam and a Holy War for the victory of Islam. In 1844 Sayyid Ali Muhammed Shrirazi claimed to be the Bab, the Gateway to the returning Imam. When he didn’t appear at Karbala, Sayyid Ali Muhammed escalated his status in stages to the Imam, then the Prophet and then superseding to a new Manifestation of God. The movement was surrounded by violence, and started much of it themselves. The Bab appointed Mirza Yahya (or Sub-i-Azal) to be his successor, but after the Bab was killed by the authorities the violence continued and the movement was in severe decline. Sub-i-Azal’s half brother, Mirza Husayn Ali, an elite Persian convert, built up his own faction and in 1863 he, Baha’u’llah (Glory of God) announced himself as the Bab’s next Manifestation of God. The authorities never left either faction alone, and the Azalis ended up in Cyprus and the Baha’is at Palestine. However, Baha’u’llah, in the course of the compulsory travels and his declaration to the few and then the world of his status, read Sufi and New Testament material, and completely remodelled the faith as it came into the Western orbit, making itself syncretistic in character, peaceful and expecting the unification of the world.

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Baha’i History in Short – By an Ex-Baha’i Scholar

Summarized-Baha-i-History-by-an-Ex-Bahai-scholar